Stitzer v. University of Puerto Rico, Civ. No. 83-1236CC.

• Citation: 617 F. Supp. 1246
• Decision Date: 09 September 1985
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 83-1236CC.
• Parties: Susan Opava STITZER, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO, Norman Maldonado, individually and as Chancellor of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico; Pedro Juan Santiago Borrero, individually and in his capacity as Dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

617 F. Supp. 1246

Susan Opava STITZER, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO, Norman Maldonado, individually and as Chancellor of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico; Pedro Juan Santiago Borrero, individually and in his capacity as Dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico, Defendants.

Civ. No. 83-1236CC.

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

August 22, 1985.

As Modified September 9, 1985.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jorge M. Suro and Carlos V. García-Gutiérrez, Santurce, Puerto Rico, for plaintiff.

James D. Noel, III, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

CEREZO, District Judge.

Dr. Susan Opava Stitzer, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico's School of Medicine, filed this complaint against the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), the Chancellor of its Medical Sciences Campus, Dr. Norman Maldonado, and the Dean of its School of Medicine, Pedro Juan Santiago Borrero, alleging that she was transferred from the Physiology Department of the School of Medicine to its Pharmacology Department in violation of her constitutional and statutory rights to express herself and be free from discrimination because of sex. Specifically, she claims that her First Amendment rights to free speech were violated because the departmental transfer resulting in her exclusion from the faculty meetings of the Physiology Department was a punitive measure taken in retaliation to views which she voiced at these meetings and that defendants discriminated against her in violation of the Civil Rights Acts of 1871 and 1964, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 and Section 2000(e),¹ because instead of transferring her male counterpart in the Physiology Department they transferred her, the only woman with her rank in that department. Plaintiff's central claim of adversity resulting from the transfer is that she will not be able to attend the faculty meetings of the Physiology Department. Presently before us is defendants' motion and plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment on the issue of whether an administrative proceeding against the Chancellor initiated as a result of the transfer and which ended in a decision adverse to plaintiff bars the present action on grounds of res judicata or collateral estoppel.

The record reveals that there were internal conflicts between plaintiff and some faculty members of the Physiology Department. There is correspondence referring to a situation of personal conflicts which had the Physiology Department paralyzed. The former department director rejected in a letter the recommendation made by departmental colleagues against her promotion, saying that it was the result of their personal conflicts with her. The Dean of the School of Medicine transferred plaintiff to the School's Pharmacology Department which needed a professor in the area of physiology expertise, renal functions. The Pharmacology Department is located in the same building as the Physiology Department but on a different floor. Plaintiff was assigned classes in her particular field of research expertise and was permitted to continue research in laboratory facilities provided by the department.

Plaintiff was dissatisfied with this decision, apparently feeling that she had been singled out and penalized because of the other faculty members's differences with her.² She considers that the transfer may affect her future research opportunities in physiology because the graduate students to whom she will now be exposed are inclined toward pharmacology rather than physiology and, since her doctorate, training and research are in the field of physiology, she understands she will encounter difficulty teaching this subject matter.³ Even though research in renal physiology involves the effect of drugs on living organisms and plaintiff will be assigned to this area of pharmacology in her teaching assignments, she considers that the pharmacology department's alleged need for a professor with a background in renal physiology was just a pretext to justify discriminating against her.

These concerns were expressed in several letters to the Dean after he informed her of the possibility of a transfer and asked for her comments. She also voiced her concern to the Chancellor who, after receiving her views, informed her on January 1981 that it was in the best interests of the School of Medicine to transfer her to the Pharmacology Department. She then filed an administrative appeal through counsel, the same as in this case, to the Office of the President of the University of Puerto Rico, as provided by P.R.Laws Ann., Title 18 Section 604(c)(9), alleging that the transfer violated her rights under the Puerto Rico and United States Constitutions to equal protection of the law, due process, to be free from sex discrimination and to be free to express her views. She argued that the transfer violated her rights under the University of Puerto Rico Law and Regulations. She also filed a motion to stay the transfer pending resolution of her appeal before the Office of the President, again arguing the possible violations to her constitutional rights that the transfer entailed. The Chancellor replied that the University of Puerto Rico's Regulations were complied with, that for transfers that do not involve a change of residence these only require prior consultation with the affected teacher and departments and that the decision was neither arbitrary nor unconstitutional since he exercised his discretion after considering the best interests of the School of Medicine since the position that plaintiff would be assigned to in the pharmacology faculty filled a need in that department, required someone with training in physiology, would not affect her research, she would be assigned classes in her field, would remain in the same building and would give lectures to her same students. The Chancellor mentioned that another factor taken into account in the decision to transfer was the interpersonal conflicts between plaintiff and other physiology faculty members to the point that she had been given a negative evaluation by them which had to be re-examined and corrected by higher officials. In view of this problem which affected not only the functioning of the physiology department but plaintiff's employment itself since department colleagues perform the initial evaluation and recommendations, and considering her professional training, the Chancellor considered that the solution to the problem in terms of what would be in the best interests of the University was to reassign plaintiff to another department where her skills were needed. After examining these arguments, the Office of the President considered that an administrative hearing should be held. Several days of hearings were held and plaintiff, represented by counsel, presented witnesses and documentary evidence and later submitted additional documentary evidence to show the difference between pharmacology and physiology. Most, if not all, of the documentary evidence submitted at the administrative hearing and many of the witnesses are the same as those listed in the pretrial order in this case.

The examining officer issued a Report and Recommendation on February 5, 1982⁴ recommending that plaintiff's appeal be dismissed. The examiner indicated that "/ w /ith the intention of receiving the most information possible, the parties were not limited in regard to time for the presentation of their evidence, reason why the hearings were extended for three days." The following are important findings of fact made by the examiner: "/ s /ince the middle of 1979 there has existed an internal problem of interpersonal relationship in the Physiology Department where in one way or another practically all of the Department's professors have been involved, with the productivity of the same having been affected" and that

/ t /he Pharmacology Department offers courses related to Physiology, having been in charge of (sic) Dr. Jesús Santos Martínez, who retired ... in the middle of 1979 ... this situation, together with the new academic approaches in the Renal Pharmacology field, have created the need for covering the Physiology area in the Pharmacology Department, specially in the renal aspects. Dr. Santos-Martínez belonged to the Physiology Department and later transferred to the Pharmacology one ... Physiology has many areas in common with Pharmacology. Pharmacology is complemented by Physiology in the same manner as it does with Biophysics, Biochemistry and Pathology. The pharmacology student must have knowledge of Physiology because the latter is the basis of all the basic sciences, in other words, it is the basis of medicine.

The officer also concluded that Dr. Opava did not need any special training to teach the new courses related to physiology that she would be assigned in the Pharmacology Department. The officer concluded that the Chancellor acted according to the University of Puerto Rico's laws and regulations, that plaintiff "was not able to establish that the transfer decision constituted a punishment, responded to reprisals or was violating her constitutional rights ... /or/ that the transfer was effected as a sanction because she was considered responsible for the interpersonal relationship problems taking place in the Physiology Department." The examining officer pointed out that the Chancellor, at the same time that he was considering the transfer request from the Dean, recommended plaintiff favorably for permanence and promotion and that her seniority rights, ranking, salary, laboratories and research work, office facilities, endeavors to obtain scholarships and financial aid and her teaching area in the physiology field were respected in the transfer. The officer considered that the Chancellor's decision, given his responsibilities, "should not be revoked in the absence of a clear and unequivocal demonstration that the same was carried out in a...